This document provides information about various birds, plants, and fungi found in the Marin Headlands area. It includes descriptions of 11 bird species found there such as the California Gull, Snowy Plover, and Double-Crested Cormorant. It also describes 11 plant species found in the redwood forests including Wax Myrtle, Sword Fern, Redwood Sorrel, and Coast Redwood. Finally, it lists sources used to research the different species. The document serves as a guide to identify some of the key wildlife that can be observed in the Marin Headlands region.

1. Marin
Headlands
Guidebook
By: Tanish, Rohan, Divyansh,
Parth and Eakraj

2. Table of Contents- [Birds]
1. California Gull
2. Brandt’s Cormorant
3. Snowy Plover
4. Bufflehead Duck
5. Heermann’s Gull
6. Double-Crested Cormorant
7. Coot
8. Mallard Duck
9. Brown Pelican
10.Common Murre
11.Canvasback duck

3. 1. Wax Myrtle
2. Tan Oak
3. Sword Fern
4. Bracket Fungus
5. Wax myrtle
6. Redwood Sorrel
7. Lichen
8. Goldenback Fern
9. Thimbleberry
10.Coast Redwood
11.Huckleberry
Table of Contents (Plants)

4. California Gull
Scientific name: Larus Californicus
Length: 24 inches Wingspan: 54 inches
The california gull has many different
habitats like marshes, prairie lakes, and
coastal areas.The California Gull is
medium-size gull with heavy yellow bill
marked in black and red.This Mature bird
has a white head and neck in summer,
nape streaked brown in winter, gray back,
white underparts, black wing tips with a
touch of white, yellow legs and feet.Some
similar species like the herring gull is
larger with pinkish leg and extensive
streaking neck. Ringed bill gull is smaller,
has pale eye, black ring on bill, in flight
has white spot on black wing tip.
California Gull in water
California Gull in Flight

5. The sizes of both males and females measure 27.6–31.1 inches, and the wingspan is 42.5
inches. They live on the Pacific coast, because their diet is mostly fish and some squid. They
often feed on fish in a flock. After fishing, they fly off to high areas to digest and dry off. Both
parents feed the young. They croak and grunt. Another type of cormorant is the double-crested
cormorant. A double-crested cormorant is black and yellow.
● Egg is pale blue and bluish white
● Long, thin necks
● Adults are almost all black
● The young are brownish-black
● Chases prey underwater
Brandt’s Cormorant
Brandt’s Cormorant
on a perch

6. Snowy plover
Scientific name : Charadrius alexandrinus
Length: 6 ¼
Habitat: Dry sand beaches, salty flats
identification: Small, long-legged, short-winged, shore bird.
They live on sandy coast and they also live in brackish islands.
There nests can hold up to 3-5 eggs.They go to the north for migration and south in winter.

7. Scientific name: scolopacidae
weight: 1 ounce
Length: 5-6 inches
Wingspan: 10.6
Sandpiper live in tufts made by wet mud nests that can hold up to 3-4 eggs.
They are declining population because of hunters and they decline year by year.
Sandpiper

8. Scientific name: Aechmophorus occidentalis
Length- 2.1- 2.6
The grebe western lives in a nest made out of floating plants and can float up to 10 feet in the
water. They spent most time in water and very less in land and they are very good swimmers and
divers. There are about 80,000 of them in america and there population declines every time.
Mostly found in kansas, oklahoma, wisconsin, British Columbia and Canada.
Grebe : Western

9. scientific name: podilymbus podiceps
Length: 11.8-15
Wingspan:17.7-24.4
Weight:8.9-20 oz
It gots its name by a latin meaning “ feet at the buttocks”.They live on bodies of flat or sluggish or
brackish water at altitudes of 8000 feet above sea level. They eat crayfish and crush it with their
strong jaws and stout bills .
Grebe : Pied-billed

10. Scientific name: Bucephala albeola
Length: 13 ½
Habitat: Woodland lakes and ponds, sheltered bays, rivers
Identification: Small diving duck. Male has a white patch on black
head , black back, White chest and sides. Female has grey head
with ear spot, gray.
One of the smallest ducks and very strong in feeding. The nest is
made out of with feathers and can hold 6-12 eggs. Baby’s can’t fly
until they are 7-8 weeks. The females leave the baby when they are
ready to fly alone and the males go to their husbands.
Buffal Head Duck

11. Heermann’s Gull
The scientific name: Larus heermanni height :19-21 inches wingspan: 35-
40 inches
Heermann’s gull has variety of habitats. It lives offshore islands, in the
winter it lives on the coast, and it rarely comes inland. You can identify it
because it has a grey body and a white head. It mostly eats fish, but it eats
other stuff.
Heermann’s gull flying

12. scientific name: Fulica height: 12 inches wingspan: 25 inches
Coot lives on a variety of wetlands. You can identify them by their small
head and scrawny legs. Coot usually eats fish.
Coot standing on a branch.
Coot

13. scientific name: Podilymbus podiceps height: 12-15 inches wingspan:18-24
inches
The Pied-Billed lives in a type of brackish water. It can be identified
because it has brown upper parts. It usually eats fish.
pied-billed swimming.
Pied-Billed

14. Scientific name: Anas platyrhynchos
Length: 23 inches
The Habitats of the Mallard Duck are
Freshwater shallows, and tidal marshes.The
Mallard Duck is a dabbling waterfowl. The
male has green head, white collar, yellow bill,
gray body. Female is sandy brown, orange
bill marked with black. Wings have bright blue
patch on upper side, bordered with
white.Similar species are like the male, who
is easily identified by it’s metallic green head
and neck, female looks very similar to other
species but has an orange bill marked with
black.
Mallard Duck
Mallard Duck Female

15. scientific name: Tringa semipalmata height: 90 inches wingspan: 27.6
inches
Willet usually lives in freshwater habitats. You can identify it by it’s
distinctive wing marks. It usally eats insects and marian worms.
Willet standing in water.
Willet

16. The Scientific name: phalacrocorax auritus height: 28-36 and wingspan: 28-
35 inches
Cormorant-Double Crested habitats. The Cormorant-Crested live in North
America in the lake, and pond . It is a duck so you can identify Black body
long wing, long neck and sharp beak and the cormorant-double crested eat
a fish and other thing
Cormorant-Double crested can
fly
a
Cormorant Double Crested

17. The Scientific name: Notholithocarpus densiflours and Height: 312 inches
Weight: 41 lb Size of the of the leaf: 30 inches.
The tan oak is from red woods forest and the Tan oak is tall and tan oak
leaf size is also big and Notholithocarpus densiflour, commonly known as a
tan oak or tanbark-oak is an evergreen tree in the beech family native to
the western United state in california a far south as the transverse.
Tan oak

18. Scientific name: Pelicanus Occidentalis
Length: 50 inches Wingspan: 84 inches
The Brown Pelican, unlike many other
birds has only one habitat, seawater
The Brown Pelican is a large waterbird.
It has a gray-brown plumage, white
head, and a large gray pouched bill.
There are no similar species for the
Brown Pelican. The shape and the
coloring of the brown pelican, and it’s
huge bill, make it unmistakable
Brown Pelican

19. Scientific name: Uria aalge Length: 17 ½
inches
The Common Murre often lives on rocky
cliffs, and offshore. The Common Murre is
large, a slender sea bird, with a long straight
pointed black bill. Breeding adult black,
white belly crest. In winter throat is white
with a dark line from eye across cheek.The
Common Murre have a similar species
called an auk, who ranges in size from an
auklet to a murre.
Common Murre

20. Scientific name: Aythya Valisineria
Length: 22 inches Weight: 3 lbs.
The Canvasback duck mostly lives on
bays and marshes. The Drakes of both
species have a reddish head, black chest,
black under the tail and pale sides and
back.Sloping forehead, and chestnut head
and neck. White back. Female is brownish
gray. The Canvasback duck is like a
Redhead, but, it has a longer black bill,
sloping forehead, with no contrasting pale
stripe on wing.
Canvasback Duck

21. The Wax myrtle Scientific name: Myrica and It is Height: 140 inches
Weight: 4 pound and size of the leaf: 3 inches. The wax myrtle is from the
red wood forest.
Southern wax myrtle(Morella Cerifera) more commonly knowen as a wax
myrtle, is a commonly found evergreen shrub/small tree.
Wax Myrtle

22. scientific name: Fragaria vesca height: 2-8 inches weight: 3.8lbs
You can identify wild strawberries as a creeper that grows in the forest. The
length of the leaf is 3 inches across and 1 inch in length. You can make jam
out of wild strawberries.
This is a wild strawberry.
Wild Strawberry

23. The Scientific name: Self fungi and Height: 3 inches and Weight: 2 to 4
inches and size of the leaf: 4 to 8 inches.
The bracket fungus is also from redwoods forest and the bracket fungus
grow in the tree and it diffrent from other plant.Bracket fungus is diffrent
than other plant. The bracket fungus is a musroom type.
Bracket Fungus

24. The Scientific name: Polystichum munitum Height: 36 to 60 inches Weight:
12 inches and Size of the leaf: 2 to 4 inches.
The sword fern is also from the redwoods forest and polystichum munitum
is an evergreen fern native to western north America ,where it is one of the
most abundant fern.
Sword Fern

25. They are perennial herbs in the family Oxalidaceae. Their size is 2-7.9 inches, and they
grow in redwoods and moist woods. Most of the time, they have less than ten leaves.
● Flowers have white or pink petals
● Native to coast redwoods of U.S and Canada
● In direct sunlight, the petals fold into a vertical
position
Redwood Sorrel Oxalis Oregana
Redwood sorrel up close

26. Lichen
● They are mostly fungi and part algae
● They cannot make their own food; They rely on other organisms for their food
● No two lichens look like each other
They can survive in saltwater and freshwater. They grow in the places where it is too harsh
for any other organisms to live in.
There are many different types of lichen.
● Crustose encrusting lichens- cannot be removed from surface without crumbling away
● Foliose leafy lichens- leafy lobes, can be removed easily with a knife
● Fruticose shrubby lichens- many branches and can be removed by hand!
Foliose Leafy Lichen: Crustose Lichen:
Fruticose Lichen:
Lichen Pentagramma Triangularis

27. Goldenback ferns are found in West U.S, but mostly in California.
● Family is Pteridaceae
● Found in West U.S, but mostly California
● Grows well in clay soil
Goldenback
fern close-up:
Goldenback Fern Pentagramma Triangularis

28. It looks like a raspberry, but slightly smaller. People can eat these berries raw, or make them
into jams and jellies. Thimbleberries can be found in mountains and cool, moist shady places.
● Leaf is five-petaled
Fun Facts:
● Native Americans make thimbleberries into pemmican, one of their tribal snacks!
● Rubus is actually the Latin name for blackberries, which are close relatives
● It’s true to its name: when you look at it down from the top, it looks like a thimble!
Thimbleberry Jam:
Thimbleberry fruit:
Thimbleberry Rubus parviflorus

29. Scientific name: Sequoia Sempervirens
Length: 600 inches
The coast redwood tree is enormous. It can
weigh up to 1.6 million pounds. The length of
one leaf, compared to the whole tree, is pretty
small, measuring 1.1811 inches.The coast
redwood is tall and leany. It has a straight trunk.
The bark is fibrous. It has flat small needles. The
Yew tree is very similar to the coast redwood.
Coast Redwood
The coast
redwood
towers really
high
Coast Redwood Compared

30. Scientific name: Gaylussacia kunth
Length: 157.48 inches
Huckleberry weighs 0.0625 pounds.The
length of the leaf is 1.9685 inches. The
young twigs of the Huckleberry display a
smooth, yellow green hue. One berry of
the huckleberry plant is black.The
Leaves have a delicate toothed texture.
It has round leaves and fine twigs. The
flowers are pink. It is around the same
size as a blueberry. We should never eat
a berry of it, the berries are poisonous.
Huckleberry
The huckleberry Berry

31. Bibliography(Divyansh)
"Lu"Luontoportti." Wild Strawberry, Fragaria Vesca. Web. 19 Mar. 2015.
<http://www.luontoportti.com/suomi/en/kukkakasvit/wild-strawberry>.
"Heermann's Gull." , Life History, All About Birds. Web. 17 Mar. 2015.
<http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Heermanns_Gull/lifehistory>.
"American Coot." , Identification, All About Birds. Web. 19 Mar. 2015.
<http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Coot/id>.
"Pied-billed Grebe." , Identification, All About Birds. Web. 19 Mar. 2015.
<http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Pied-billed_Grebe/id>.
"Willet." , Identification, All About Birds. Web. 19 Mar. 2015. <http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Willet/id>.
"

32. http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/plant-of-the-week/oxalis_oregana.shtml
http://www.lichen.com/biology.html
http://www.calflora.org/cgi-bin/species_query.cgi?where-taxon=Pentagramma+triangularis
http://www.laspilitas.com/nature-of-california/plants/521--pityrogramma-triangularis
http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/beauty/lichens/whatare.shtml
http://www.countrysideinfo.co.uk/fungi/lichens.htm
http://www.sfbotanicalgarden.org/garden/bloom_11_05.shtml
http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/plant-of-the-week/rubus_parviflorus.shtml
http://www.calflora.org/cgi-bin/species_query.cgi?where-taxon=Pentagramma+triangularis http://www.laspilitas.com/nature-
of-california/plants/521--pityrogramma-triangularis http://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/brandts-cormorant
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Brandts_Cormorant/lifehistory
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Double-crested_Cormorant/id
http://www.nps.gov/chis/learn/nature/brandts-cormorant.htm
http://www.countrysideinfo.co.uk/fungi/images/foliose.jpg
http://www.botany.hawaii.edu/faculty/wong/BOT135/images/lobaria_pulmonaria_dry.jpg
http://nathistoc.bio.uci.edu/plants/Ferns/DSC_9335b.jpg
http://www.paulnoll.com/Oregon/Plants/flower-Thimbleberry-fruit-big.jpg
Bibliography (Rohan)

33. Web. 25 Mar. 2015. <http://www.gregmillerbirding.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Neotropic-
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Bibliography (Eakraj)

34. Bibliography(Tanish)
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